Why?
by fletch92
Summary: Sort of background to Nate and Chuck's friendship, from Nate's POV, explaining why they are friends.


Why nate and chuck are friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl etc.**

**This is just an explanation of Chuck and Nate's friendship, for Nate anyway. If people like this, I might wirte one for Chuck. It doesn't really have a plot, but I just thought that the show doesn't really explain their friendship at all, so I thought I wuld have a go! Please review…**

Nate knew that people never really understood why Chuck Bass was his best friend.

Nate was the King of the Upper East Side, the star lacrosse player, the pretty boy, the perfect boyfriend.

Chuck was the resident bad boy, the womanizer, the ass, new money.

No-one would have put them together, would have expected that they would ever be friends. But they had been friends forever.

Nate didn't know if he could explain it to anyone. It was just the way it was.

Chuck was a tonic for Nate. He didn't conform to the rules of the Upper East Side, he didn't change in public, he didn't sacrifice his needs to appear proper, and for that, people disapproved of him. But that was one of the reasons Nate loved him so much – he was an escape from the ridiculously judgemental society they lived in, Nate's only link to what he supposed was normality, where you didn't have to perform, to hide behind a mask.

And Nate didn't care that people disapproved of his best friend, in fact, he enjoyed it. For him, it was his one way to be 'improper'. He knew it was pathetic, but the rebel inside him loved Chuck Bass, with all his faults. There was something so dangerous and shocking about their friendship that Nate loved. Though Chuck could never be branded a normal teenager, he at least lived his the life the way he wanted to, and Nate was proud of his best friend for this.

Chuck Bass barely had any morals. He didn't judge. He listened to Nate. His response was never particularly deep or heartfelt, or even useful, but to Nate, it was valuable. Though he had kept it a secret for a long time, when it was finally out in the open, Nate knew that Chuck was the only one who did not judge Nate for what he had done with Serena, who perhaps understood what it was like to be so caught up in the moment that it was impossible to think of consequences. And Nate loved that when he walked into that suite, he could be whoever he wanted to be, without worrying about what other people thought.

And not only did Chuck not judge him, but he also didn't expect anything from him. His parents expected him to be the perfect son. Blair expected him to be the perfect boyfriend. Everyone else expected him to be the perfect gentleman. But Chuck did not expect him to be the perfect best friend, because Chuck didn't care what Nate did, as long as he still showed up at his hotel room, still snuck out of assembly to smoke joints with him, and still teased him about the girls he brought back to the hotel room. As long as Nate remained his best friend, he knew that Chuck would never expect anything else from him.

Chuck's suite was Nate's sanctuary. Whenever anything was bothering him at home, he knew there was always a sofa waiting for him. He needed there to be somewhere to go, away from everything. And his best friend always made sure that he could escape somewhere.

Chuck was there for Nate. He was reliable, dependable, and he never let him down. Nate could always count on Chuck not to change.

When Nate was eight years old, he had been playing football with his friends in the school playground. Chuck was there, but he was sitting on the side, preferring to watch and not play. Nate had kicked the ball into the window of their classroom by mistake, and had run to Chuck, practically in tears, terrified of what his father would say when he found out about this. Chuck had patted him on the shoulder and walked towards the classroom. Chuck had received a week's worth of detentions for kicking the ball through the window, but he didn't even complain once. And he wouldn't let Nate even thank him, shrugging off his words as if this gesture was miniscule, unimportant. But to Nate, it had meant everything.

Nate was not the perfect gentleman everyone thought he was. In fact, sometimes, he was a complete ass. But, because of Chuck, no-one knew this. No-one knew that Nathaniel Archibald had ever done anything wrong, had ever hurt anyone.

When Nate was fourteen years old, he had gone to a party with Chuck. Blair was at her country house for the weekend, and Serena was having a family supper with her mother's new husband. The two boys were alone, and Nate was thrilled about his freedom. He drank, he danced, and eventually he kissed a girl. Chuck saw them, but didn't stop them, even when they moved into a bedroom and disappeared for a while. He kept an eye on the room though, and when he saw a big guy, at least two years older than them, and by the looks of it a mini heavyweight champion, going in to the room, Chuck followed him. He found the guy pushing Nate up against the wall, shouting something about this girl being his girlfriend. Nate's cheek was red – he had punched him. Chuck pulled the guy off Nate, using all the strength he could muster, and punched him. The big guy fought back, beat Chuck until his face was unrecogniseable, and then stormed out of the room.

When Blair came back and saw the two boys, she asked what had happened. Nate looked guiltily at Chuck, who spoke without hesitating. "Oh, I kissed a girl I shouldn't have, and, well…her boyfriend was a big guy, and it got a bit out of hand. But Nate stopped him." And Blair had immediately showered Nate with kisses, exclaiming at how gentlemanly and brave he was. Chuck had left, and never mentioned it again.

Nate had had his ass saved by his best friend on countless occasions, and Chuck never took any credit for what he did for him.

Nobody knew Chuck Bass the way Nate did.

Nate knew that people never really understood why Chuck Bass was his best friend.

But he didn't care.


End file.
